Interweave

I'm probably the last knitting blogger to post an entry on what I think about the new layout of Interweave Knits -- but I have a different, bone chilling observation about it than the critiques I've seen of it.

I buy Interweave without even opening it - there's always a pattern or two that I like, and just like some readers of Hustler & Playboy, I actually DO read it for the articles. I won't go into detail about the changes they've made since everyone already knows what they are (I will say that I was half way through the magazine before I realized that what I had skipped through weren't ads - they were the patterns....but anyway..)

WHERE'D ALL THE INTERWEAVE MODELS GO???

that's 'delicate girl'...my all time favourite

curly red haired girl - shows you how awesome sweaters will look on you if you have lots of freckles & fair skin - very important!


This one sort of intimidates me, and she'd probably think I was annoying if we ever hung out, but I like her anyway...



And this one is pretty new, but I was really starting to like her.. I mean this in the most awesome way possible, she reminds me of my mom.

They're GONE - the only familiar one is the cover model - which is good, it's good to have a sliver of familiarity left. But what have they done to the original models? the OG's? I hope they come back next issue - I hope they're just all at 'knitwear model camp.' I hope none of them stumble across this & think I'm creepy.

That being said, I'm totally adding the 'dollar & a half' cardigan to my ever growing 'to knit' list:

wicked weekend.

I had such a lovely Saturday!

Gord & I went for a nice long walk around town...

We had coffee at the Senator (my lens was frosty - makes it looked haaaaaunted!

Then at night I went out to celebrate some birthdays...

Handsomely astounding Matthew's superfun birthday party!

Amazingly amazing Pam's birthday!

It was good to get out & get down. I've been in a bit of a crafting cocoon lately - let's blame it on the weather.

However, if I weren't in this cocoon, I wouldn't have this great sweater!

Sort of a blink & it's done project. I started it a couple of weeks ago & had the body totally done in a couple of days. I'd been slowly adding the sleeves since then. This was purely a stash-buster project. I've had this grey wool-ease for about 3 years now - I needed a fast project that would use it *ALL*.

The pattern: "Wicked" from Zephyrstyle, grey wool-ease (maybe 5 or 6 balls?) US 8 needles.

I really like it, and as I knit it I thought about all the ways I could change the pattern up a bit. It was really well written & I love how it turned out. I think this is the first sweater I've knit for myself that I can see wearing often - I'm wearing it right now!

Taking pictures with the timer is hard - and sadly this serious faced one is the one that shows the sweater the best. I love the neckline, and the wool-ease isn't as bad as I thought it'd be. I have a whole bunch of it in black - maybe it'll be a wicked sweater too!

Gonna dress you up in my love.

Impossible to choose just one, I wait anxiously for Valentine's Day to arrive just so I can use these gems.





Stay cozy today! It's c-c-c-c-cold!

Just give me a call when you land in Montreal...

Complete!


Yarn: Regia "Canadian Colours"(a dynamite yet sadly discontinued yarn series) in 'Montreal'

Pattern: The ever popular Jaywalker pattern by Grumperina


Cast on Thursday, Finished Monday. I love them!

stripes! from noses to toeses.

I'm supposed to be on a bit of a yarn diet. Nothing drastic, but I definitely want to get rid of some stuff in my stash before I go buying new stuff. However, weak little me walked past Romni Wools the other day & before I knew it I was standing before the sock yarn wall & all my attempts at just walking away empty handed were beat down to a fine pulp. I walked out with 2 new skiens of sock yarn. One of them being the last ball of the amazing Regia 'Canadian Colours' series (note: Regia refers to this series of colours as "Canadian COLORS", which I refuse to type.)

Anyway...it's the 'Montreal' colourway, and the teeny tiny stripes make me SO happy. I'm using the Jaywalker pattern, but something tells me when the stripes are this dazzling, simple stockinette would have probably been best.



See? I like the bottom foot part of these much more than the zigzag patterned top. Too late to turn back now, though! I cast on for these Thursday night & already I am on the foot of the second sock. Something about stripes makes my fingers knit extra fast!

When I put the sock down on the coffee table, I noticed this sock goes quite well with our current box of Kleenex:





Now, this reminds me of why I should be on a yarn diet. It also goes a long way to convince me that the *massive* *amounts* *of* *money* I spent on new glasses this weekend will be worth it.

How does this kleenex box & these socks help to ease buyer's remorse?

Here's a little clue:

Recognize those stripes?

I've done gone got me some Paul Smith spectacles! It's distressing to have to ask yourself how much you're willing to spend on your face. My glasses are the first thing I reach for in the morning & the last thing I take off at night. I am 100% useless without them. I spent many of my formative years wearing hideous frames - mostly from the free wall at Hakim. Giant red plastic glasses, dorky wire frames, bizzare tortoise shell frames that were so big they dug into my cheeks. I trusted my parents - if they said the glasses looked good, then I didn't care. They were paying for them & I was often the victim of stray-football-in-face syndrome, so the frames would probably be replaced before long anyhow.

Now I'm pleased to say I care a little more about what goes on my face & I am finally in a place (ie: out of retail) that gives me the freedom to venture into the world of luxury eyewear. My mega dork prescription means that the total cost of the glasses is more than a month's rent, but like Gord says "You can eat peanut butter smeared on a playing card to get you through the next couple of days"

They will be done in a little over a week, I have to prepare my face.

Puppies, chocolate fountains & knitting toys!

For Christmas my wicked awesome parents got me a yarn swift from Knitting Notions but we had to wait for it to arrive. Well, I finally got my paws on it this weekend and I am in love! I knew I'd get it on Saturday so there were lots of preparations to be done!
On Friday after work I went to Lettuce Knit to get a ball winder & some skiens of yarn.

mmmmmmmmball winder!


I was going to only get one skien so that I could have the pleasure of winding it up with my swift & my winder - I have, after all, made a (very weak) promise to myself that I would get rid of most of what I already have before I brought new yarn home.

I knew I wanted Lorna's Laces since all the stuff I see knit with it looks amazing. I wanted sock yarn since I'm way into knitting socks for *me*. I thought that a darker yarn, more subdued would be good. A calmer pair of socks......

A pair of Black Watch socks!


These colours look super great & I cannot wait to find the perfect pattern to show them off!

So after I picked out this stuff I thought I was just about ready to get out of there before anything else caught my eye & then I saw it.... a bit of brown & seafoamy green sticking out from beneath all the Lorna's Laces. I starting pulling the hank out....sorbety orange??!! banana marshmallow yellow?? All together? All one? It was a skien of Socks that Rock. And it was mine with no questions asked. I have seen countless beautiful socks knit with this stuff & finally my ship had come in. Now I have the great pleasure of blog searching for the perfect STR pattern.

I practically ran home (swinging my Lettuce Knit bag happily by my side...they use clear bags which gives me a really disgusting show-offy thrill. I'm all "HEY! Look! All of my totally indulgent yarn purchases are right here in plain sight! Look at hoe colourful my life is! Booyah!") anyway, practically I ran home because I had to get the nursery sewing room ready!



Whoah! Christmas mess! And then some....

So I tidied everything up, organized my yarn box(es) & knitting basket & seperated all the acrylic I know I'll never use.

Then I tied up some loose ends. Well, I wove them in, actually.

I started knitting Ivy months ago. I had intended it to be my sister's birthday present but it wasn't ready in time (augh!). I had to make the arm holes bigger & seam it all & fix some bits that weren't sitting well with me. This took me a *long* time. A long, long time. But when it was finally finished, the relief I felt was amazing (a greedy relief...a 'good! now that that's done, I won't feel guilty about knitting for me!' relief) I just had to cross my fingers & hope it would actually fit her.

IT DOES!

I *LOVE* this sweater. I think it's my favourite completed sweater yet! It looks fantastic on her & I'm happy that I put in all that extra time with it. I'm even thinking of making one for me!

I used Nashua Creative Focus Worsted for this, in 'nickle'. I loved using this stuff. It's 75% wool & 25% alpaca making it super soft - I could have knit with it for forever. The yardage of this stuff is fantastic & it comes in a bunch of really awesome colours. Thumbs up!

As an aside, this picture was taken at Spencer's on the Lake this morning at brunch, which is a magical place with a chocolate fountain!


Anyway, okay, so...sweater gifted, brunch eaten, many mimosa's drankened & then back home to my parents where we watched PUPPY BOWL III (!!!!!!!!!!)




(That's all it was......puppies....for THREE HOURS! HEAVEN!)

Despite the frolicking puppies, I was itching to go home so I could play with my new swift! Basically when I got back home I threw my coat & bags on the floor & wound up my STR into a perfectly perfect tasty little yarn cake.

Could I get hot fudge sauce & walnuts on top of that.....because that's how delicious it looks to me. As delicious as a Sundae.